The Hundredth Monkey

As breed of Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers, too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.

Between 1952 and 1958, all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes—the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let’s further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.

THEN IT HAPPENED! By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!

But notice. A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea …colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes!

Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind. Although the exact number may very, the Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the consciousness property of these people. But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone! …

You may be the "Hundredth Monkey"…

This is a story that was transcribed by Ken Keyes, Jr. from a book with copyright information as follows... Library of Congress Catalog No. 81-70978 / ISBN 0-942024-01-X. The book itself is not copyrighted. You are asked to reproduce it in whole or in part, to distribute it with or without charge, in as many languages as possible, to as many people as possible.

Reading this made me think of our own community of preppers, how discouraging it can be in a world that still wants to hide its head in the sand, a world that refuses to see the dangers that loom so close. I thought of SciFiChick who has voiced being discouraged about trying to show others who don't wish to be shown. I thought of Yeoldfurt who sometimes laments that we are only preaching to the choir. But not one of us just woke up one day and became a prepper. We were all introduced to the concept of sustainable living by others who were already immersed in that lifestyle.

So keep doing what you're doing fellow preppers. Keep stockpiling supplies for yourself and your families, keep learning the skills that might very well keep you alive someday. Be generous with your knowledge if a newbie shows sincere interest. Some people won't even ask questions at first, they'll just follow your example. Who knows? You just might be the hundredth monkey.